New Aimee Mann video remakes iconic ‘Voices Carry’

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At the beginning of Aimee Mann’s new video, the singer utters this disclaimer: “I want to make it perfectly clear that I had no choice in this video. I was legally bound to do it.” She’s kidding, of course. Anyone familiar with Mann’s career knows the onetime Berklee student is fiercely independent and doesn’t do much that she doesn’t want to do. The joke is that the video for her new song, “Labrador,” is a remake of “Voices Carry,” the 1985 hit by Mann’s old band Til Tuesday. (The video for “Voices Carry,” was in very heavy rotation on MTV back when MTV actually aired videos.) The new video features Superchunk drummer/comedian Jon Wurster and also Jon Hamm, who plays the video’s director,Tom Scharpling. (We like it when Hamm mispronounces “collaborative.”) Because the “Voices Carry” video was so iconic to people of a certain age, the new vid has been widely circulated on Facebook and Twitter since its release this week. (It’s got a ways to go before it matches the 1.5 million views of “Voices Carry.”) “I came up with the idea and pitched it to Aimee,” said Scharpling, a writer/director best known as the host of the radio show “The Best Show on WFMU.” “ ‘Voices Carry’ is the first impression many people have of her, but she’s done so much since then that a lot of people don’t think about it or even know it.” While much of the original was shot in Boston, including a scene at the Strand Theatre, the new vid was shot in Brooklyn. Scharpling said Hamm was happy to join in because he’s a friend and fan of Mann’s. “He gave us an hour or so and it was awesome,” said Scharpling. “He’s funny. What can’t Jon Hamm do at this point?” Mann, whose new CD, “Charmer,” was just released, plays at Berklee Nov. 3.